Library Marketing Templates... = Design “Magic”?

Above, the full range of monthly event sign template sets. Each branch library received
four coloured choices to select from for display of their monthly calendar of events.
For branches that required two sizes of signs, a template set for each size was created.

Unbelievably, I've been away from Library Graphic Design since the middle of August. Now, here it is the middle of October. Believe me, it hasn't been because of lack of work to show. No, quite the opposite in fact. In the 21 days of work immediately after my last post I'd completed 97+ projects and had more pouring in by the day. In the month of September, I tread the proverbial waters with over 80 projects in the works, and in October over 90 projects were in production (and only a count of projects, not including components of projects, for which one example is shown above).

This kind of project quantity has led to the discussion of how such a level can be sustained without burning out the single designer generating the creative for it. One of the more palatable options was to put the power into the hands of people wanting publicity materials when the designer could do no more. By this I mean create basic document templates that any staff member could use to expound upon to develop specific marketing materials when those items could get by without requiring the creative skills a designer. 

The template is a document that places important, standard elements into a format that becomes the base design that should be maintained for purposes of brand consistency and recognition from one project to the next. Having these standard elements already in place diminishes the chance that they will be inadvertently left off by the subsequent user of the document, while leaving room where users can place whatever additional elements they want in order to make each project unique.

One set of branded marketing materials for one of the 12 branch libraries
shows the uniformity of design that carries through from (left to right):
11x17 inch sign, 8.5x11 inch sign, quarter page handbills, and book cards.

To make these templates available to all staff, however, means the designer overseeing consistent brand development first has to create them. And in order to develop the entire complement of no less than eight branded documents specific to each of the 12-branch library system, 204 individual final documents had to be delivered to the branches. And in order to do that, the full process involved creation of 612 separate files. So initially, the effort to reduce work overload ironically actually significantly contributed to a work overload. Few people realize this is the process required as part of a holistic branding effort by the designer to provide the one or two materials that any single individual user might utilize on the rare occasion they need it.

This example demonstrates how one 8.5x11 inch page 
renders three book cards for one of the 12 branch libraries.

Once in place, however, one hopes these templates will be used by the non-design staff to help reduce work primarily done by the designer. It also gives people who perceive a template as meaning the work is virtually finished and "all you have to do is..." an opportunity to experience and appreciate first-hand for themselves what that "all" actually involves in the remaining development of project. The "magic" patina of a template will quickly wear off to reveal the reality of the remaining content development, information/presentation judgment, and production work left to be done before it reaches the hands of the public consumer.

This example shows how one 8.5x11 inch page renders four
quarter page handbills using the branded design template.

In my case, the process of developing branded marketing materials involves creating each design using the layout program InDesign, then saving the work as an image and importing it into a Microsoft Publisher layout. Creating the branded content as an image helps remove the possibility that it would be altered—or worse, left off the marketing piece entirely. The collective group of documents are then placed in folders on an intranet server for the appropriate branch staff to have access to. And if someone accidentally deletes or otherwise mucks up a document, I can redistribute a copy of the master document that I retain.

The drawback to releasing templates to non-design staff is that quality control is significantly diminished. Templates rely on others at every possible level of technical experience and visual savvy to exercise good judgement on the quality and quantity of visuals and information presented on the documents. Rarely would these documents be submitted to the design department for review and comment. Instead, the materials would simply appear wherever they are locally created and corporate brand managers would just have to hope for the best.

After the fact, perhaps there could be opportunity for review and give advice, but it is unlikely since these items would rarely be sent to the marketing department unless otherwise requested or required as part of the process. This would be a decision left to a marketing manager to decide on its importance for publicity and brand management. Additionally, with an ever-changing workforce, educating staff who might potentially create marketing materials would become a never-ending exercise in itself that still couldn't guarantee premium results. It would also replace the workload of one kind with the workload of another, which wouldn't necessarily provide the solution initially sought (to reduce the workload of the designer). At that point, the designer would effectively become a design manager—an additional role and scope of work not initially accounted for.

At least with the branded content consistently formatted from one piece to another, this treatment will aid in building brand recognition and provide actionable information (contact information and website address) for viewers to refer to whenever unique design and information is unclear.